Revisiting the past
What’s the gap?
To understand biodiversity change, we need a record of biodiversity change. Join this challenge to help us bridge time gaps in biodiversity data!
Some of the most valuable information we have from the past is from naturalists who spent hours in the field, looking for species they love. Unfortunately, fewer and fewer of us can invest our lives into observing nature in this way, though we may share a passion for nature and the outdoors. Gaps are appearing not just in space, but also in time: as data gets older, we become less certain that the species is still there. By revisiting past observations, we can better understand how biodiversity is changing to prevent biodiversity losses.
Where should you go?
To blitz this gap, we encourage you to revisit places that were sampled in the past. We’ve highlighted historically-sampled places that are close to roads for you to choose from, which you can see on these maps.
Priority cells are places where there has not been any observation of these species groups in over 15 years!
What should you look for?
Choose a species group and look for locations near you. Any observation of the species group you choose in these priority cells will help to the temporal gaps in our data! Log as many species of the group as you can find on iNaturalist!
The locations on these maps are suggestions and not exact coordinates of where to sample. We cannot determine safety, ownership, or access to these lands. Please verify that you can legally and safely access these sites. Read the iNaturalist.ca Terms of Use for more information.